I was at Porter Ridge a couple weeks back when the Pirates beat Providence Day and saw Wogan make a 40-something yard kick that -- when it cleared the goalpost -- was nearly as high as the top of the posts.

It would've easily, EASILY, have been good from 60. This kid is going to Oregon and he's got a major college leg right now before any additional training.

As far as kickers go, he could get scary. And check out what he did Friday:

In a 69-0 win over Union County rival Parkwood, Wogan had one of the best nights I've ever seen from a kicker.

Wogan made two field goals, of 47- and 55-yards. He was 9-for-9 on PATs and smashed all 12 of his kickoffs for touchbacks. He had one punt for 47 yards.

In fact, I'm not sure why teams even line up when Porter Ridge kicks off. Every one of his kicks I've seen in person or on YouTube fly -- fly -- out of the back of the end zone.

I've not seen three guys in my career with a stronger leg than Wogan's.

Matt Wogan, Porter Ridge’s atypical kicker, ready to mix it up

INDIAN TRAIL Porter Ridge’s Senior Matt Wogan is a kicker, only
at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, he doesn’t look like – or play like – a typical
high school kicker.

Wogan played soccer from the time he was 5 years old until 8th
grade, when he switched to football full-time because he discovered that
when you hit somebody, you don’t get a red card for it.

“He’s always been on the aggressive side,” Wogan’s father, Ron,
said. “He didn’t mind (contact) on the soccer field. He played center
mid and because of his size, when someone tried to break through, let’s
just say, a lot of times they weren’t very successful.”

Matt Wogan started football in seventh grade and initially
planned to run back punts and kickoffs. Only one day, he fielded a punt
and decided to punt it back so he could get more reps. Only, Wogan’s
return kick had a rarely seen pace and trajectory, something his middle
school coach noticed immediately.

“He turned around and said, ‘Who kicked that,’ ” Wogan said. “I
got pulled into it. I liked it. It had a soccer type thing to it with
the kicking, but I could also hit someone. I’d always get red cards in
soccer for fouling people. In football, it didn’t matter.”

Advance the story a few years, and the guy who got the job on a whim has become one of the nation’s best.

Wogan picked Oregon, choosing the Ducks over schools like
Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, North Carolina, Ohio State, Tennessee and
South Carolina. How did he get so far from home? Wogan participated in a
kicking camp at Oregon and really liked it. When he went back for a
recruiting visit, he absolutely fell in love with the place. He also
plans to major in sports marketing, and Oregon has a strong sports
business program.

“It felt right,” he said. “It’s a long way from home, and people
say I’m leaving family, but I’m also gaining a lot of people who
genuinely want to be part of my life. Football there is tops in the
nation. Academics are top notch. Plus, my dad says the only way to
really get better is to face a challenge. He said I can only benefit
from a challenge and that it’ll make me stronger. This is like that.”

By most accounts, he loves challenges.

He carries better than a 4.0 GPA while taking a combination of
honors and advanced placement classes. When his private kicking coaches
and football coaches at Porter Ridge told him his lack of flexibility
was affecting his kicking progress, Wogan got dedicated enough that he
can not only touch his toes while keeping his straight legs, but he can
put his forearms flat on the ground, too.

That kind of work ethic has shown on the field. In his sophomore
season, Wogan averaged 39.2 yards per punt. Last year, his average
improved to 43.1. Now, most of his punts fly better than 45 yards in the
air and they sail impossibly high. In practice last week, he hit a few
punts that flew nearly 60 yards.

Last season he made 67-of-69 extra-point attempts and of the 93
kickoffs he took, 80 went for touchbacks – even though Wogan secretly
didn’t mind if more than that were returned by the opposing team.

“My goal is to put (the kickoffs) out of the end zone every
time,” he said. “At the same time, I would almost rather get out there
and block and hit and pancake someone and put them on their butt. I like
to do the dirty work and work hard in the trenches. I love to get in
the weight room and all that stuff, too.”

Wogan’s longest field goal last season was 44 yards, but he
regularly kicks them from 55 yards in practice. Porter Ridge coach Blair
Hardin, whose team has reached two straight N.C. 4A semifinal games,
said he would have no problem letting Wogan try a 60-yard kick this
season in a game.

“He’s a 4.0 (academic) kid for a reason,”
Hardin said. “He’s a worker. He’s a weight room guy. He bench presses
300 pounds as a kicker. He kicks on the weekends. He’s always trying to
improve some facet of the game, off the field or on the field.”

Wogan will also play wide receiver for the Pirates this season, a
position he’s played throughout his high school career. Initially,
Hardin thought he had a wunderkind and just wanted to let him develop,
but eventually he realized that Wogan’s aggressive nature wouldn’t limit
him to special teams.

“He’s going to start for us,” Hardin said. “He’s played (wide
receiver) every year. When he was younger, we wanted to bring him along
in the process so he could gain confidence in his kicking, but he’s
actually a football player first and a kicker second. And he’s a good
football player, too.”

Wogan also has his hobbies. He goes at hunting and fishing just
as hard as football. He’s caught an 8-pound bass and is such an avid
deer hunter that he, his older brother, Paul, and his father will put
cameras in the woods three or four weeks ahead of when they plan to hunt
in order to help tract deer movement patterns.

“I love hunting,” Wogan said. “I love it a lot, but nothing
compares to football. I love hitting. I love kicking. And I can’t wait
to get started this year.”